Trunk and mail-box



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1-.

- W. S. SOULE.

TRUNK AND MAIL BOX.

No. 245,882. Patented Aug. 16,1881.

Witnesses Inventor:

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' I W. S. SOULE.

TRUNK AND MAIL BOX.

' Patented Aug. 16, 1881.

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UNITED STATES ATENT ()EEICE.

WILLIAM S. SOULE, OF GAMBRIDGEPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.

TRUNK AND MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,882, dated August 16, 1881.

Application filed July 6, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. SOULE, of Oambridgeport, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunks and Mail-Boxes, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

' My invention relates to the construction of trunks and packing and mail boxes, and has for its object the construction of such boxes and trunks from such materials as will give the greatest possible strength with comparative lightness and a good degree of elasticity; and it consists, first, in a trunk the body of which is madeup from boards or sheets composed ofa center of tough light wood the grain of which is oblique to the sides, top, and bottom of the trunk, an outer covering of rawhide, and an inner covering of a strong coarse textile fabric, such as canvas, burlap, or other hemp cloth, all firmly secured together by glue or other adhesive material, said trunk or box being further strengthened, after being made up, by bars, angles, and corner-pieces molded from rawhide and riveted through said composite board, as will be more fully described.

It further consists in a trunk or box the body of which is made up from boards or sheets composed of an outer covering of rawhide, an inner coveringof burlap, canvas,or other strong coarse textile fabric, and a filling of tough light wood the grain of which is diagonal or oblique to the top and bottom of the trunk, all firmly united together by glue or other adhesive material, and further stren gthened by bars, angles, and corner-pieces of rawhide united thereto by riveting through said composite board.

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of a trunk embodying my invention, with the lid raised or opened. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the trunk, with the lid closed; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of a piece of the composite material from which the body of the trunk is made, a portion of the rawhide being broken away to show the oblique position of the grain of the wood.

A is the body or shell of the trunk or box, made up from boards or sheets of a composite material, consisting of a center of tough but light wood, a, preferably of bass-wood, a sheet of rawhide, b, firmly cemented to one side of the wood, and a piece of canvas, burlap, or other coarse strong textile fabric, 0, in like manner secured to the opposite side of the wood, the grain of which is arranged in such a position as to be oblique to the top and bottom orsides and ends of the trunk or box when built therein.

B B are angle-pieces of rawhide extending around the corners or angles formed by the sides with the top and bottom and the ends of the trunk, upon the outside, and secured in position by rivets which pass through said rawhide angle-pieces, the composite board A, composed of the rawhide 0, wood a, and textile fabric 0, and through the rawhide angle-pieces c, placed in the inner corners of the trunk or box.

0 O are molded rawhide corner pieces or fenders, securely riveted to the trunk in their appropriate positions, as shown, and D D are metal studs, also firmly riveted to the trunk, passing through the corner eap-pieceU, anglepieces B, rawhide b, wood a, and the canvas or burlap c, and serving to protect the surface of the trunk from unnecessary wear. The inner surface of the canvas or burlap-c is covered by a sheet of thick Manila paper, f, secured thereto by glue or other adhesive material, and over which is pasted or glued the cloth lining g.

E E are brackets for supportinga tray, (not Y shown,) said brackets being formed from pieces of rawhide by cutting to desired shape and molding them to form while in asol'tened state, and allowing them to dry and harden While held in the desired position.

All parts of the trunk are firmly bound together by the angle-pieces B and 6, cornerfenders U G, bands F, and the edge-protectors G, all made of rawhide and riveted firmly to the shell of the trunk and to each other, as shown.

I am aware that trunks have been made of rawhide entire and were very serviceable; but they were too heavy for many uses, and very expensive on account of the extra weight of hide used, as compared with my improved trunk. Another objection to making the trunk entirely of rawhide is that, owing to the hard, unyielding, and intractable nature of the hide, the riveting had to be done entirely by hand, and a solid copper rivet with a burr had to be used, which further increased the expense. Still another objection to trunks made entirely of rawhide was the difficulty of keeping the trunk in shape, owing to the warping of the large fiat pieces of rawhide of which the shell of the trunk was composed. These several objections are entirely overcome by my present invention.

By the use ofthecompositeboard from which to make up the shell ofthe trunk or box a much lighter trunk or box is produced, and one that will keep its shape much better than one made entirely of rawhide, and at the same time the rawhide outer covering of the board, together with the strongtextile strengtheninginnereovering, renders the trunk am ply strong when reenforced by the bands, angles, corner-fenders, and edgeproteetors, all riveted firmly together, as heretofore described.

The yielding and compressible nature of the wood and textile fabric renders it practical to use tubular rivets, or rivets the clinching ends of which are tubular, and from which the secondary headscan be formed without the use of burrs, by the use of which rivets I am enabled to set the rivets by machinery, and thus lessen the expense of construction.

The arranging of the wood with the grain diagonal to the top, bottom, and sides of the trunk or box is very beneficial, on account of the reduced liability of the wood being split by inserting the rivets or by the strain brought to bear upon any given row of rivets, as when so arranged the rows of rivets are never parallel to the line of the grain of the wood, and therefore no two rivets in the same row tend to split the wood in the same line.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A trunk or box the body of which is composed of an outer covering of rawhide, an inner coverin g of canvas,burlap, or other strong coarse textile fabric, and a center of light tough wood the grain of which is disposed or arranged obliquely to the top and bottom and sides of the trunk or box, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A trunk or box thebody or shell of which is composed of a center of wood the grain of which is arranged obliquely to the top, bottom, and sides of the trunk or box, an outer covering of rawhide, and an inner covering of canvas, burlap, or other coarse strong textile fabric, all firmly united by glue or other adhesive material, and having riveted to its exterior surface strengthening bars, angles, and corner fender-pieces, substantially as described.

Executed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 24th day of June, A. D. 1880.

WILLIAM S. SOULE.

\Vitnesses:

E. A. UEMMENWAY, WALTER E. LOMBARD. 

